Public IM (Again)

After basically avoiding it for several months (because of work, etc), I’ve reactivated my public IM account at ScalziOnAIM on, yes, AOL Instant Messenger. This doesn’t mean I’m done with work (oh, my, no) just that I’m feeling slightly more social, in that IM sort of way. In any event, feel free to add me to your buddy lists, and if you see me online, to say hello. Because I don’t sign on to this particular account if I’m not feeling sociable.

If you don’t see me online, don’t say hello. Because, really, that would just be silly.

The funny thing is that instant messenging programs can actually be an aid to actually DOING the work, as opposed to being simply a procrastination enhancer.

During the last 20,000-word Week’o’Work on my first novel, I was in regular ICQ contact with the excellent author Alma Alexander, whose telepresence not only helped by allowing occasional breaks so I wouldn’t get bogged down, but also by her answers and advice when I was stumped.

Also, much more recently, I enjoyed an ongoing AIM consultation with a legally-minded friend while scripting an Oral Reply for a union member (basically, a legal/contractual defense a union steward will deliver on behalf of an employee threatened with suspension or termination).

So, yeah; it’s good for that as well as for just saying “hello” and for being silly.

I guess I was never interested in being part of America OnLine when I’m part of the rest of the world online. Plus I think AIM is the big holdout against IM integration: it gets me less bang-for-buck than any chat service.

Oh I use IM at work all the time, but it’s the IM that comes with our mail server, Groupwise so not compatible with any other IM program. But I definitely prefer getting 32 questions via IM than 32 phone calls. Especially when my answers tend to be things like Edit -> Find & Replace -> More -> Select “Whole Words Only”

Trillian too, which some people like because it’s prettier and comes with zillions of possible skins. The main downside of Trillian is that its IRC functionality isn’t as good as Pidgin’s. (Namely, no “ignore” unless you pay them money.) But if you don’t use IRC, then no problem.